Just before into the holiday weekend Americans received news that fewer of them have jobs. The headline numbers in jobs report out from the Bureau of Labor Statistic Thursday morning were solid but the underlying data was not cause for celebration.
Employers added 223,000 jobs in June. While economists were forecasting an addition of around 230,000 jobs the figure does continue the medium-term trend of above 200,000 average monthly growth.
The revisions, however, reflect a weaker rebound from winter weather than previously thought. The payroll count for April was revised lower to plus 187,000 from the latest reading of 221,000. This is the second downward revision to the April reading which initially came in at 223,000. May’s figure was also revised down to plus 254,000 from plus 280,000 jobs. Net total employment gains in April and May were therefore 60,000 lower than BLS previously reported.
The unemployment rate, which is drawn from a different survey, came in at 5.3%. Down from 5.5% in May this is the lowest rate since April 2008 but reflects a shrinking labor force.
